SA20 Auction: Teams Allowed Six Player Retentions, Salary Cap Boosted to $2.3M

The SA20 league has announced that franchises will be allowed to retain a maximum of six players ahead of the upcoming auction for its fourth season. The auction is scheduled to take place in Johannesburg on September 9th.

With a minimum of 72 slots available across the six teams, the salary purse has been significantly increased to USD 2.3 million for each team.

Prior to the auction, teams can retain up to six players, including a maximum of three overseas players.

All the franchises will see an increase in the purse to USD 2.3 million © Sportzpics

Each franchise can have a maximum of seven overseas players in their 18-member squad. At least 11 slots must be reserved for local players. A wild card signing is also available, allowing teams to sign either a South African or foreign player whose league fee will not count towards the salary cap.

A new feature this year is the introduction of the Right To Match (RTM) card. This allows a franchise to match the winning bid for a player who played for them in the previous season, enabling them to retain that player for the 2025-26 season. The number of RTM cards available to each franchise will depend on how many South African players they retain.

Unlike previous seasons, there will be no Rookie Draft this year. Instead, franchises must include a minimum of two Under-23 players in their final 19-player squads.

Stephen Cook, Head of Cricket Operations at SA20, commented: "The SA20 Season 4 Player Auction is setting up to be the most exciting yet, with about 60% of player slots available for the franchises to fill. Mechanisms such as RTM cards, Wildcard players and an increased salary cap are sure to create interesting situations for teams and will allow them to strategically select their squads. We have seen some life-changing transactions already in the past few years and the upcoming auction should see plenty more."

Richard Madley will continue as the auctioneer for the fourth season, which is scheduled to begin on December 26th.